Researchers revolutionize understanding of supermassive black hole accretion radiation in quasars

Through the study of the optical to extreme ultraviolet radiation generated by the accretion of supermassive black holes at the centers of quasars, Associate Professor Cai Zhenyi and Professor Wang Junxian from the Department of Astronomy at the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) have discovered that their spectral energy distribution is independent to the intrinsic brightness of quasars, overturning the traditional understanding in this field.